How_it _is, Apple

Glycan

If in the English-speaking world, one still uses the term carbohydrates,
this is not the case in French, where one uses the term glucides to replace
hydrates de carbone. This is because of recent advances in biochemistry,
in particular the study of glycans. Sugars are less interesting in
and of themselves, but rather in their conjugates with proteins and fats - known as
glycans - and giving rise to glycobiology.

Glycans are the object of many viruses, and are involved in the recognition of
sugar bound proteins by the immune system,  at the root of auto-immune illnesses.
They are also involved in the propagation of cancers.

Fear

Happy!

Went to a student haunt with Lyse (downtown Montreal) and had a bowl of Ramen. Which I managed to eat with chopsticks; trick is, the spoon in the left hand is an intermediate stop between the bowl and self. All the lifting happens with the chopsticks!!

Ramen are wheat-based noodles - a Northern food - as opposed to rice noodles found in pho.

Left greasy-faced and happy.

TTIP_ CETA

President Obama is in Europe to defend a free-trade treaty between the US and the European Community; he is heading to Hanover, Germany, next. Canada already has an agreement which is very similar. The two need to be voted into law by European nations. There are still some sticking points.

As explained in Le Monde, the concerned sectors are the following:

Cette harmonisation réglementaire concerne pour l'instant neuf secteurs: l'automobile, la pharmacie, la chimie, les cosmétiques, l'ingéniérie, les pesticides, le textile, les appareils médicaux, les technologies de l'information et de la communication. Les services financiers en sont exclus pour l'instant et les services culturels n'en feront définitivement pas partie.

Opponents in North America decry it is an assault on buy local policies that may well cost jobs. Europeans are wary of American regulatory norms - or rather, the lack of them - on the quality of products, environmental protection, product testing (cosmetics)  and so forth.

The creation of this large trading zone is seen as necessary to protect developed economies in an increasingly competitive world economy, but it remains a road fraught with difficulties. Opponents are demonstrating in Hanover today.

Birthday Wishes

Elizabeth 2 really does have everything. Her son, the Prince of Wales,
has gone so far as to remark that we will all go down in history as having
lived in the era of Elizabeth.

With the difference that I see things as a girl, I would liked to think that the
age of Elizabeth will be remembered as the time when a lot of silly ideas about
women went down.

So on this, the day of her turning 90, I am sending my best wishes and a girlie
present: an idea about how she might want to change her hair. Granted wearing
a crown does impose limitations, she could perhaps go a little in the direction of
the style worn by journalist Sophie Davant, arguably the best haircut on French
television. Happy Birthday, your Majesty!

Different

So here's the difference between a therapist and a coach.The therapist may not want to help the patient suffering from something he or she has struggled with themselves, whereas a coach will  often work from their own experience to mentor others.

It is a HUGE difference in that one can trust the therapist to offer the best advice on tap. A coach might well be brilliant, but that requires one to judge...

Caprices

Last Sunday, I was quite enjoying the French film Caprices, a recent movie rental
available from Videotron. All very charming and intelligent. Except that the male
lead seemed somewhat miscast, a bit wooden for the part. All is clear now: that was
no actor, that's the author and filmmaker giving himself the lead.

No, that was a bad idea when Woody Allen did it - many times - and it is
a bad idea now. We don't need to see you, dude. We know we're on a date with you
without that. Other than that, génial!!

For Seniors

For Seniors wondering where to find information about plans to index the GIS,
one needs to ask for: budget.gc.ca directly in the browser address window. This takes us to the budget 2016 site. Once there, one clicks on Budget Plan, to see the pdf budget outline. Seniors are covered in Chapter 5.

Dry!?

I've seen this mentioned on British web sites, the idea of eating baked beans on toast.
Decided to give it a go, for the version with a mozzarella slice on top.

Very filling but tasty, fine for a late morning brunch. Would serve with tomatoes or
cucumber because it is a tad dry, this one anyway which used tomato sauce beans.

Bye Bye Snow

Self

Still dieting. Yes, that dirty word. For four weeks now, been trying to get my weight down to bicycling standard.

Every year, I promise myself that this year, I will not allow things to creep up during those long, cold and less active months. I never succeed.

Every year, around Easter time, these is a nasty 10 lbs to be gotten rid of. And a tortuous process it is.

This year, these is a difference: it is both slower but also a lot less unpleasant, all thanks to My Fitness Pal. Here's the deal: I only weigh myself once a week. This is HUGE. Not that I won't step on the scale now and again, but my official, goes-on-the-record weigh-in is weekly. For the first time, the scale is my friend. I know I have lost some since my last weigh-in, and it might be one, might be two less tomorrow, my weigh-in day. Either way, I am okay with it, there is no ego-damage involved.
Because, let's face it, weigh-loss involves one's narcissism, the self-love and approval we all need to function in a social context, to fight the good fight. I am not feeling bad about myself, about my performance. I can have a plateau day, and so what. It's all win.

Keeping track of meals and macros is also a help. If I fall off of my diet at one meal, the worst that can happen is that I will fall into another meal. I only allow myself grains at two meals of the three. My main meal is protein, salad and veg., these is fresh fruit to be eaten with one grain, and milk products with the other. I am free to change the order of the meals. That's it, and it works.

My MFP profile is not public, for the moment. I would be cheating others if I published it in this form, because I do not declare the little things that make all the difference, those four grapes with the piece of toast, that thin film of peanut butter instead of butter on the toast, whatever. I am keeping track of macros, and the current set-up helps me. It would all appear as monotonous, and restrictive to someone reading this from the outside, and my success would be vanity, the very formula that discourages others. So for now, MFP is my private helper.

DAY 1

DAY 28

Six down, four to go...